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LATEST ARTICLES
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Detection and Prevention for Thermal Bridging
At Energy Rating Perth, we aim to educate our clients on building defects and how to detect and correct them. In our previous article about thermal bridging we defined the term, why it occurs and the effect it has on your thermal performance. Avoiding thermal bridging is a key component of improving thermal performance of a building, as failure in doing so can result in higher energy costs for heating/cooling, discomfort and condensation. The very first step would be to assess where thermal bridging is occurring in the building by placing thermal imaging cameras on the exterior of a building. Usually it is around door and window frames and balcony slabs that most thermal bridging occurs. The ideal goal should be to achieve a seamless and gapless insulation system in an assembly, which does not allow materials of high thermal conductivity such as metal objects, beams, frames and reinforcement etc. to come in contact with the exterior and then the interior environment. There are several solutions to prevent thermal bridging entirely but it is important to know is what is causing
What is the thermal bridging? How does it affect your energy star rating?
At Energy Rating Perth, we aim to educate our clients on small errors that may result in expensive exercises to correct them. Careless and poor construction methods can result in a phenomenon known as thermal bridging that may seem trivial but can have quite an impact on the thermal performance of your building. Thermal bridging is heat transfer from a conditioned space into its surroundings due to materials that have a low thermal resistance. This ends up in an overall reduction of the thermal performance of the building. For instance, if a window assembly has aluminium frame in which the inner frame touches the external frame. Since aluminium is a conductor of heat as compared to the glazing, it will heat up rapidly from the exterior heat, the heat will be gained by the internal frame and in turn the internal environment. Similarly thermal bridging can occur for materials when there are air leakage due to improper sealing or inadequate installation of insulation can cause the air to be linked to the outside hence creating a thermal bridge. Our energy assessors at
How to correct and prevent Air Infiltration and leakages:
On our Energy Rating website we have spoken numerous times about air infiltration and leakages and how to detect them. Our energy assessors at Energy Rating Perth are always urging our clients to not take air infiltration lightly and detect it early especially if you have just moved into a new home. Once it is detected, it is vital to correct it at your earliest to avoid a negative effect on the thermal performance of your home. The following measures can be taken to eradicate air infiltration from your home: Ensure proper sealing of doors and windows that leak air through caulks and weather-strips of the best quality installed by a professional. The points where plumbing, ducting or electrical wiring comes through the walls/floors/ceilings/soffits etc. need to caulked and sealed. If there are dirty spots in your insulation, inspect them for mold or air leaks. If there are leaks, they must be sealed with a low-expansion foam. Install house flashing if it is not already there. If needed, install foam gaskets being switch plates and wall outlets. Cover single-glazed windows especially if
Apple’s Green Project!
Apple is one of the leading suppliers of technology in the world, everyone knows their name and their products. So if you imagine how big their company is worldwide, you can imagine their carbon footprint affecting our environment, right? Wrong. Apple is striving to use 100% renewable energy! They are creating new solar projects to reduce their emissions, switching to greener materials in their production facilities and creating a more attentive way to recycle devices using robots which can take apart 1.2 million phones a year! In 2015, an apple spokeswoman stated that 93% of Apple’s energy came from renewable sources. Singapore facilities are powered by a solar project over 800 rooftops, China facilities are getting 170 megawatts of solar added and the data centres around the world run on 100% clean energy. That’s 463 Apple Stores in 13 countries powered by the green magic. Apple hasn’t stopped there! They have encouraged and now announced “Ibiden”, their Japanese supplier for chips and circuit boards to Apple, will take on the dream of powering all operations with 100% renewable energy. They will be implementing a
How to choose the best energy efficient appliances
Today at Energy Rating Perth, we are looking into how to choose the best energy saving appliance. Just because it’s better for the bank account, doesn’t mean it’s better for our environment and the electric bills. Over time, the cost to run an appliance may not be worth skimping on a few dollars when first purchased. Firstly, we must calculate the life time cost by multiplying the yearly running cost by the intended life span you intend for the product, considering majority of appliances have an approximated life span of 8-10 years (upfront cost x (annual running cost x 10) = life time cost of appliance). Considering the star rating is your next step. The more stars, the more energy efficient the product is and take into account that each star can save you dramatically on your electricity and water bills. Next is the size or load capacity of the appliance. If you have a family, consider a larger machine. Although it may be more upfront cost, they are far more efficient per unit of electricity consumed so more cost effective for larger loads
Understanding the heating/cooling load for a building
The energy assessors at Energy Rating Perth are always asked by our clients what a heating/cooling load and what effect it has on the energy efficiency of their homes. A heating load is the amount of energy required to heat a space in order to achieve thermal comfort, which essentially means to maintain a constant dry bulb temperature and humidity in an acceptable range. A cooling load on the other hand is the amount of energy used to remove heat from a space to maintain the same thermal comfort. Part of our job as energy assessors is assessing the energy efficiency of a building and to ensure that the proposed building does not exceed the legal heating/cooling loads. As this is case sensitive, it is dependent on the BCA climate zone the building will be constructed in hence ensure that your energy assessor is aware of state-specific energy requirements. For instance, if you live in Hobart, your building will have a different heating load requirements from a region like Darwin where there is no heating load in place. The energy assessment completed at
QUALITY GUARANTEE
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At Energy Rating Perth, we aim to provide clients with every probable solution to help improve the thermal performance of their homes. A large number of clients at Energy Rating Perth might not recognise the importance of landscaping and the ability of your home to achieve thermal comfort. Trees can provide shading on the walls and windows, which can greatly improve the interior thermal comfort. However, just like the concept of eaves, we may not require shading on all sides all around the year. For this reason, deciduous trees can be planted towards the northern side so in the winters, they can allow full sunlight penetration while evergreen trees are preferable for the eastern and western facades. This can help in keeping your home cool in the hot summers by providing shade and avoid unnecessary solar heat gain. In colder climates, trees can also limit the harsh cold air from penetrating into the building by acting as a barrier. In hot/humid or even moderate climates, this may be a limiting factor therefore, when choosing trees, they should be ones that allow air movement through the foliage.
Other than trees, there are smaller shrubs that are strategically placed can also cool the breeze before it enters into the building through evapotranspiration. Other landscape features water bodies also help in creating a cooling effect due to evaporation. The process can be speeded up by using a water spray in a fountain particularly into a summer breeze path. This is not recommended for climates with high humidity throughout the air as it may actually increase the humidity thus affecting the overall thermal comfort of the home.
Our energy assessors take into account a range of information when they are completing a 6 star energy rating assessment and may at times give recommendations that seem trivial but can add greatly to the energy efficiency of your home. Strategic selection as well as plantation of vegetation should be considered as a solution and site featured trees should be preserved rather than removed.
Call our team at Energy Rating Perth for more information today!
OFFICE LINE
1.800.555.6789
EMERGENCY
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OFFICE LINE
1.800.555.6789
EMERGENCY
1.800.555.0000
WORKING HOURS